►NSW: One of Australia’s leading obstetricians and gynaecologists landed a damning indictment on his own profession and the health system in 2013 in a paper titled “The Transvaginal Mesh Decade”.

Associate Professor Chris Maher blamed regulators in America and Australia for clearing transvaginal mesh devices for use in women without original clinical evidence supporting safety and efficacy.

The devices are used where women experience prolapse and incontinence problems after childbirth, and are implanted via the vagina. Read more

►QLD: Rates in the North-West Queensland are not going to jump by a large amount, despite big land valuation increases.

Property in the Carpentaria and Croydon Shire Councils received the largest percentage increases in the state when new valuations were released by Queensland’s Valuer-General last week. Read more

►VIC: A three-year-old Golden Square boy has been rescued after being caught in a drain on Tuesday.

Tobias was outside with his mother when his foot became stuck in a small drain opening.

The worried mother called emergency services, with CFA and SES crews working to free the boy. Read more

National news

Tasmanian parliment

►In a rare display of tripartisan support, the Tasmanian government’s family violence reform legislation passed through the Lower House unimpeded on Tuesday.

Premier Will Hodgman acknowledged the cross-party cooperation that enabled the Family Violence Reforms Bill 2016’s passage through the House of Assembly.

“There’s been a very collaborative effort, and a lot of good will,” he said. Read more

►The minister charged with pulling together the Turnbull government's looming housing affordability package has suggested Australians could be allowed to use superannuation when buying their first home but that such a change would have to be a part of broader reforms.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar, who is spruiking housing affordability as a key platform of the May budget, said any changes on the "demand side" such as superannuation reform could work if supply in the housing market was also increased. Read more

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International news

►BALI: A former West Australian bricklayer who was busted with hashish at his Sanur home has been sentenced to seven months' jail for possessing an illegal narcotic for personal use.

Guiseppe "Joe" Serafino, who had lived in Bali for five years and managed the On-On Billiard Bar in Sanur, was arrested by police on October 8 with 7.32 grams of hashish. Read more

Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Picture: Getty Images

►SCOTLAND: Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon has launched a fresh push for independence, complaining she hit a brick wall trying to avoid her country being dragged down a "hard Brexit" path.

However she will face stiff opposition from the UK government, with Prime Minister Theresa May accusing Ms Sturgeon of setting the country on a path for more "uncertainty and division". Read more

On this day

The faces of Australia: Kate Griffiths

Owner Kate Griffiths with Eliza Rae. Picture: supplied

Opening a new business can be daunting, but NSW entrepreneur Kate Griffiths is encouraging residents to take the leap into self-employment.

The former Narromine local, who left the region five years ago to study at Sydney’s Whitehouse Institute of Design, had always dreamed of opening a store in Dubbo.

On Thursday she launched her boutique Lazy Sunday Lifestyle – a mix of homewares, fashion and gifts as well as art and furniture.

Ms Griffiths has been overwhelmed by the response so far, and said now was the perfect time for Dubbo residents to open their own business. Read more